Ephrem the Syrian: part 1

Ephrem the Syrian was a Syriac Christian deacon and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is especially beloved in the Syriac Orthodox Church and counted as a Venerable Father in Eastern Orthodoxy. Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis.